Los Alamitos Softball Coach Shannon Fired After 21 Years

Jami Shannon, who has won more softball games than any active coach in Orange County and second most in the Southern Section, has been fired by Los Alamitos High School officials after 21 seasons.

She was told last week by Dr. Rebecca Shore, who just finished her first school year as principal at Los Alamitos.

Shannon said she was “blindsided” by being fired. It does not affect her position as a special education assistant at the school.

“It’s not anything anyone expected--we had no idea,” Shannon said. “We’ve always had a very successful program, it’s always been respected, always had a lot of class.”

Shannon’s dismissal left varsity players and parents upset and section officials and rival coaches stunned. Shore referred an interview request to assistant principal Jerry Halpin who, along with girls’ athletic director Donna Bohannon, participated in the decision.

“We’re excited about the possibility of our program going in a new direction, for lack of a better word, a positive new direction,” said Halpin, who declined to give reasons for the decision.

Shannon said she “was asked to make everyone happy and make the problem go away,” after some junior varsity players and parents wrote letters of complaint to school officials.

“I think they’re trying to ease the frustration of a handful of junior varsity players and parents, but they’re doing it at the expense of almost all the varsity players and parents,” Shannon said. “The varsity parents are the ones who aren’t going to be happy next year.”

One of those is the father of first baseman Darcy Brown.

“It’s a travesty,” Tim Brown said. “She’s coached 21 years, she’s the winningest coach in Orange County, she sits on several CIF selection committees. I’m very upset.”

Shore told a dozen varsity parents that the letter-writing didn’t affect her decision, and Halpin reiterated that stance Monday.

“We think that all players will feel they’re part of the program,” Halpin said. “When you’re talking about the best programs in the county, you’re not just talking about the varsity program.”

Los Alamitos made the playoffs but finished 13-14, its first losing season in 21 years. The Griffins won five league titles in the 1990s, losing in the section’s Division I final in 1993. Shannon’s record at the school was 332-184-2.

“She’s helped a lot of people with a lot of different things, she does anything for you, she gets along with everyone really well,” said Phelan Wright, a Times All-Orange County shortstop. “She shouldn’t have gotten fired.”

Coincidentally, Karen Hellyer, the Southern Section administrator in charge of softball, sent an unsolicited letter to Shore last week praising Shannon’s efforts on the softball advisory committee.

“It’s very sad,” Hellyer said. “I’ve spent a lot of time working with her and it’s such a shock.”